well, the both of you think it is o.k. to stand over other people in judgement, and see nothing wrong with that. self-examine much???
This is a miss-characterisation. We are neither judging people, or saying they are sinners or sinning.
We are clarifying two different models of faith. Being born again has always been a question christians have argued about, because it is about what begins ones walk with Christ.
The key focus of people is simply the word fruit and responsibility. It matters that people take responsibility for sin, and are held to account, in a real judicial view. Murder is murder, by a conscious choosing human being who could also not to murder. It is a theme that has been foundational to our legal system, to social responsibility, to prisons, to punishment.
There are obviously sins which do not have such a large an effect but are equally destructive of relationships and ultimately walking with Jesus.
A theology that moves away from this into mystical experiences and dwelling in Christ etc without a desire to resolve sin, causes a lot of the people of God to pay attention, and say, this is not the gospel of Christ.
And the root is the mystical new heart from heaven, perfect, acceptable which is our eternal inheritence, which once given cannot be lost, leads inevitably to this world view.
Now people have had no problem describing themselves as sinners, continually sinning, every day. I am not here to say they are lying and wrong, I am just repeating this very position. And it is stated to prove the purity and holiness is impossible, because if it was possible they as christians would be walking it. But this is a circular argument. They hold their theology because of personal failure, not the personal failure proves the theology. It just shows compromise.
Our position is to understand our differences and declare them plainly. We believe in free choice, and people choosing what they follow. We know where and why we stand, that is all the Lord calls us to do. If people say this is judgemental, it is not us being judgemental, we are merely preaching the word. I do not know the sins people are being convicted of, real or unreal, I am just called to show what Jesus said.
I hope this helps. I would do not more or less for Buhhists, Muslims, Jews etc. Knowing why we are different is the beginning of seeing our choices and empowering us to make choices. We will stand before the Lord about these very choices, so I suggest everyone knows what they are standing on and why. My sharing is the deep heritage of the people of God, who have not been mystics in this sense, but practical followers of Christ, learning to love, care and forgive as commanded by Christ through His power and love as expressed in the cross. It is that simple and that different.
